Saturday, March 24, 2012

With the good news continuing to come out on Joba's dislocated ankle, it looks like the worst-case scenarios that were in play earlier yesterday are no longer a concern. He's going to be released from the hospital tomorrow and there is still mention of him possibly getting back on a mound in July to start/continue his rehab. That being said, factoring in the lost time in his TJS rehab that will occur because of this injury and the delicate nature in which his ankle rehab will have to take place because of it being his push-off leg, I think it's safe to say that we won't see Joba in any kind of game action in 2012. With that being the case, here are the effects that Joba's absence will have this season and beyond.

After words like "career-threatening" and "life-threatening" were thrown around yesterday when talking about Joba's ankle injury, this bit of news from Sweeny Murti is a relief today:

"Joba could be released from hospital today. He told Cashman that dr said he could step on a mound by July. But MRI results not back yet."

Using my vast amount of medical knowledge that I accumulated as a business major at UConn, I imagine the results of the MRI and other tests from yesterday will have to be known to confirm whether or not the possibility of Joba returning to the mound in July is real. But I also imagine that his doctor wouldn't say things like that to Joba to give him false hope, so the early returns on the surgery and tests must be positive. Ankle injuries are serious in the baseball world, just ask David Adams and Ravel Santana, and Joba's certainly sounded like it was far more severe than the injuries those two suffered. If there's any chance he can make it back on a mound this year, that's a good thing.